Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SCR23 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		By: Kolkhorst S.C.R. No. 23
	2	+	(In the Senate - Filed March 6, 2023; March 9, 2023, read
	3	+	first time and referred to Committee on Border Security;
	4	+	April 11, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
	5	+	Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 11, 2023,
	6	+	sent to printer.)
	7	+	Click here to see the committee vote
	8	+	COMMITTEE VOTE YeaNayAbsent PNVBirdwell X Flores X Blanco X Hinojosa X King X COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.C.R. No. 23 By: Flores
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4	11		SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
5	12		WHEREAS, The State of Texas and the United States federal
6	13		government have 1,254 miles of land to protect along Texas' border
7	14		with Mexico, a job that has become increasingly violent as this
8	15		state has been subjected to an invasion by foreign drug cartels; and
9	16		WHEREAS, These foreign drug cartels bring terror to Texas
10	17		communities by flooding the streets with deadly narcotics, forcing
11	18		women and children into human and sex trafficking, enriching
12	19		themselves on the misery and enslavement of Texans, and butchering
13	20		and murdering anyone who tries to stop them; and
14	21		WHEREAS, State and local law enforcement agencies are forced
15	22		to contend with extensive and dangerous criminal activity resulting
16	23		from, or associated with, foreign drug cartels, thereby putting
17	24		Texas law enforcement officials in danger and draining resources
18	25		away from protecting our communities; and
19	26		WHEREAS, The State of Texas has acted to address the problem
20	27		by adding hundreds of commissioned law enforcement officers to the
21	28		border, purchasing state-of-the-art helicopters, conducting border
22	29		security surge operations, and paying millions of dollars for
23	30		overtime, training, equipment, and technology for local law
24	31		enforcement; and
25	32		WHEREAS, Law enforcement agencies working together in Texas
26	33		have seized billions of dollars in illegal drugs and hundreds of
27	34		millions in cash, along with thousands of firearms and other
28	35		weapons, all related to the invasion of foreign drug cartels; and
29	36		WHEREAS, Texas has repeatedly asked the federal government to
30	37		send more border security resources to the state, requesting an
31	38		increase in manpower and authority for border patrol agents and
32	39		other federal personnel; and
33	40		WHEREAS, Texas prisons house violent offenders that claim
34	41		foreign citizenship, and the state bears the cost of housing and
35	42		prosecuting those offenders; and
36	43		WHEREAS, Texas taxpayers have spent billions compensating
37	44		for the lack of federal resources provided to the state; and
38	45		WHEREAS, The federal government's failure to develop a
39	46		comprehensive plan to address this border security problem puts an
40	47		unfair and unreasonable burden on the entire state, especially on
41	48		Texas border communities, in violation of Article IV, Section 4 of
42	49		the United States Constitution; and
43	50		WHEREAS, Under Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 of the United
44	51		States Constitution, Texas is entitled as a sovereign state of the
45	52		United States of America to protect itself against this current
46	53		foreign drug cartel invasion; this constitutional authority grants
47	54		the State of Texas the power to defend the state when the state has
48	55		been invaded or is "in such imminent Danger as will not admit of
49	56		delay"; and
50	57		WHEREAS, The governor, in a letter to the president of the
51	58		United States on November 16, 2022, invoked the authority under
52	59		Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, to protect
53	60		the State of Texas; now, therefore, be it
54	61		RESOLVED, That the 88th Legislature of the State of Texas
55	62		hereby demand the federal government to immediately declare violent
56	63		foreign drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations under
57	64		Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1189;
58	65		and, be it further
59	66		RESOLVED, That the Texas Legislature hereby find that the
60	67		State of Texas has been invaded by foreign drug cartels and that the
61	68		citizens of this state are in imminent danger of irreparable harm;
62	69		and, be it further
63	70		RESOLVED, That the Texas Legislature hereby encourage all
64	71		applicable state and local resources as needed, to use any and all
65	72		authority under Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 of the United States
66	73		Constitution to repel this violent foreign drug cartel invasion,
67	74		and that such authority should be invoked with the intention of
68	75		utilizing such authority in the most peaceful manner possible
69	76		consistent with bringing this invasion to a conclusion at the
70	77		earliest possible moment.
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